The Avenue: Issue Thirteen

The thirteenth issue of The Avenue was released on March 1, 1999. Contents included:

Current News:

When this issue was released, the band was in the early stages of recording their follow-up to 1996's "On Air" album. Alan gave a few hints at the new album including revealing the title of "The Time Machine".

Alan had also been busy completing work on an album by Michael Ernst, saying: "I did some co-production mixing for Michael. He's been working for a long time on an album based on the Excalibur legend. For some years I have been associated with him to help him bring it all together. In all, I'd say we've been working on this album for ten years."

The first 350 copies of this issue included a special bonus: a free colour 5x7 photographic of the band. Note: all copies with the colour photo have been distributed.

Of Note:

In this issue, the "Of Note:" section looks at recent production work by Chris Harley, touring by Christopher Cross, and a double shot of David Pack!

Colin Blunstone interview (Part 2 of 2):

In issue twelve we looked at Colin's early years and how he met Alan Parsons. In this part, we learn more about Colin's session work, and his work doing music for commercials. Most recently he's released a new album, and says, "I've also been touring for the last 18 months in support of my new album called 'The Light Inside'. It was a strange album because there were a few ups and downs. For instance, the drummer we used was Cozy Powell who was sadly killed in a car crash (April 5, 1998). He had already finished the drum tracks but he hadn't come in yet to do the percussion, so there was a lot of sadness with this album."

Tales Of...:

Part thirteen of this section brings our continuing history story through 1978, where we conclude our look back at "Pyramid" . Also, Alan looks back at his work on Al Stewart's "Time Passages", and said, "Following the success of 'Year of the Cat', Al wanted to have saxophone on everything. As it happened, Phil Kenzie had moved to Los Angeles, so that worked out well. Phil even joined the live band for a while."

A Look At The Fans...

In issue eleven, we invited the readers to tell us more about themselves. Drawing from almost a hundred responses, this article shows what are fans are like: age, education, occupation, and much more.

"Let's Talk About...":

The question and answer section looks at touring, covers and more....

What was the worst and the best things that ever happened when you were playing a tour?

In the movie "That Thing You Do", one of my favourite scenes is the one when they all hear their song on the radio for the first time. Can Alan tell us what went through his mind the first time he heard one of his songs on the radio?

"I certainly remember the thrill of hearing early productions of mine on the radio like the early Pilot and Cockney Rebel singles. In a way, possibly hearing things I'd engineered on the radio was as much of a thrill. I suppose it's slightly blasé or big headed, or whatever, but by the time The Alan Parsons Project's early stuff was being played on the radio I'd sort of got used to my work being aired." (more in issue 13)

Why did so many APP album covers have Egyptian themes? Pyramid, Eye In The Sky, Tales, etc.

Does Alan have any favourite classical composers?

Contest prizes in this issue included: the chance for a free Avenue subscription, and more items autographed by Alan Parsons!

In this issue, both insert pages were dedicated to sheet music: the songs being "Sirius" and "Eye In The Sky".

This, and much more happened in Issue Thirteen of The Avenue!

Back to The Avenue Home Page

Back to the Back Issue Menu